What Are the Annual Running Costs of the 981 Boxster GTS?

This time, I decided to calculate the annual running costs of the 981 Boxster GTS owned by my husband. Recently, I accurately calculated the annual running costs of the new Panamera Turbo,

新型ポルシェ パナメーラターボの実際の年間維持費を計算してみた結果は？

but this time, I excluded parking fees (since parking fees vary quite a bit depending on the area and whether you own or rent your home) and focused on other maintenance costs.

① Gasoline Costs

The 981 Boxster GTS was delivered in November 2015. It’s been almost three years now, and the current mileage is about 29,000 km. The total fuel economy isn’t precisely known because the meter was reset once at 10,000 km, but it’s roughly around 9 km/l.

(“Consumpt” means fuel consumption. By the way, this is the European notation showing how many liters are used per 100 km.)
According to my husband, this is the result of driving without any concern for fuel economy. He rarely shifted into 5th or 6th gear in city driving, often pushed the car hard on the driveway, and even drove on the circuit… so he thinks the fuel economy would be better if he drove more consciously.

By the way, the Boxster’s fuel tank capacity is 64 liters. The Panamera’s is 90 liters, so the Boxster’s tank is small… or maybe the Panamera’s tank is just huge (-_-)

Calculating at 9 km/l, “to drive 29,000 km, it used 3,222 liters”. Referring to this site for gasoline prices, the calculation came out to:

150 yen(average gasoline price over 3 years) × 3,222 = 483,300 yen

Wow… ( ﾟдﾟ )…

② Oil Changes and Inspections

The Boxster’s oil tank capacity is 7.5 liters. But filling it full might be too much, so oil changes probably use a bit over 6 liters. Here are the records of oil changes and inspections so far:

Date	Details	Cost (yen)
2015/11/18	Pre-delivery inspection
2015/12/3	First inspection + oil change	29,236
2016/5/20	Oil change + filter replacement	39,200
2016/10/17	1-year inspection + oil change	69,636
2017/5/29	Oil change + filter replacement	39,234
2017/11/25	2-year inspection + oil change + filter replacement + air conditioning filter replacement	90,500
Total		267,806

In addition, he topped up the oil himself once. The oil used was the same as for the Panamera: “Mobil1 5W-50 Excellent Wear Protection.”

You can buy it online, but if you participate in the Porsche Track Experience (formerly Porsche Driving School), you get a 1L can.

By the way, it’s almost time for another oil change, but since he’s only driven 2,000–3,000 km since the end of last year and this year is the inspection year, he’s still thinking about what to do.

③ Automobile Tax

Regarding automobile tax, the Boxster has a 3,436 cc engine, so it falls into the “over 3 liters up to 3.5 liters” category, which costs 58,000 yen per year. Compared to the Panamera, it feels like a smaller car, but the tax is quite high due to the large displacement!

Source: jidoushazei.info

④ Tire Replacement

As I wrote in this article,

タイヤを長持ちさせる走り方の3つのポイント ー ボクスターGTS乗りの夫の場合

my husband has replaced the tires on the Boxster only once so far, and that was only on the rear tires due to a puncture (lol, though it’s not really funny). The replacement was in May 2017. The tires were Goodyear “EAGLE F1 ASYMMETRIC 2 265/35ZR20 95Y N0 (Porsche certified tire)” in 20-inch size.

At the time, the price was 49,000 yen per tire, but checking price.com now shows the same tire costs 64,800 yen each. He replaced two tires at a specialist shop called “Nishinomiya Base,” and the labor cost was 4,800 yen.

So the total was 102,800 yen.

⑤ Vehicle Inspection

Regarding the vehicle inspection, since it’s a new car, the first inspection is after three years, so this year is the inspection year. Depending on whether parts need replacement, he said it would probably cost around 200,000 yen.

⑥ Automobile Insurance

For automobile insurance, he used to have Sony Sonpo and other online insurance for his previous car, but for cars worth over 10 million yen or luxury cars, it seems you can’t get comprehensive insurance? So now, through the Porsche dealer, he has insurance with Tokio Marine & Nichido.

Insurance premiums are:
・1st year: 164,590 yen
・2nd year: 160,120 yen
・3rd year: 139,300 yen

So expensive!!!!!! Super expensive!!! ((；ﾟДﾟ))

When I was trembling at how high it was, he said, “Well, you say that, but the Panamera costs about 300,000 yen a year.” I almost lost consciousness ( ﾟдﾟ )…

Buying a car isn’t just about the purchase price; the running costs add up… I really have to work hard. (I plan to write a separate article about the Panamera’s insurance costs later.)

What’s the Total Running Cost Over 3 Years?

So, totaling the running costs over three years:

① Gasoline	433,681
② Oil changes, inspections + oil top-up	274,806
③ Automobile tax (3 years)	174,000
④ Tire replacement	102,800
⑤ Vehicle inspection (estimate)	200,000
⑥ Automobile insurance	464,010
Total	1,698,916

Dividing this by 3 years gives 566,305 yen per year.

But this doesn’t include parking fees (we rent a house with parking included in the rent, so technically we don’t pay extra) or highway tolls. Considering more frequent tire replacements or other costs, it might reach about 1 million yen per year.

My Husband’s Take?

When I said, “Wow, maintaining a car really costs a lot of money,” he said,

But with this performance and driving enjoyment, an annual running cost of just over 500,000 yen is reasonable, or even cheap.

…Well, normally I wouldn’t call that cheap (-_-)

My husband is the kind of person who complains, “What is this? 2,000 yen for a lunch that barely fills you up? That’s way too expensive!” when served a fancy restaurant’s small tasting lunch. Yet he thinks 500,000 yen for the Boxster is cheap… The perspective of a car enthusiast is truly fascinating these days.